And the Not So Secret Santa
by lil smiles
Summary: A gift exchange with a little holiday hi-jinx, just another magical Christmas Eve at the Library. Happy Holidays, LITs! Team fic. Fleve/Evlynn. ONESHOT.


**A/N: HAPPY HOLIDAYS, LITs! I threw in a little extra surprise for all you _Leverage_ fans as well. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Since I'd like to stay on Santa's Nice List, this is the part where I say that I own absolutely nothing and that I just like to play in the sandbox that was created by Dean and John and co.**

* * *

 **And the Not So Secret Santa**

"Rock-Paper-Scissors!"

Baird shook her head before glancing over at the trio huddled around the main table of the Annex.

"Seven minutes and fifty-two seconds," Jenkins answered before she even had a chance to ask. "Fifty-three seconds. Fifty-four... Would you like me to continue, Colonel?"

"Nope. I think I'm good."

"Rock-Paper-Scissors!" Cassandra called out for the umpteenth time.

"This isn't working," Jones whined. "Cassandra, just go first."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. We've already been at this for…" Stone paused, extending his arm towards Jenkins.

"Eight minutes and ten seconds," supplied Jenkins. "Eleven…"

"Fine," Cassandra conceded. "Only if you insist…"

"We insist!" the boys said in unison.

"Finally," Baird exclaimed with a sigh of relief.

Three gifts had been spread out in front of the young Librarians, each of them labelled with one of their names. Cassandra grabbed the sparkly bag adorned with a cartoon Santa Clause addressed to her. Carefully, she removed all of the tissue paper and fished out a small velvet case.

"Oh gosh," she gasped.

Cracking the case opened, revealed a crown shaped pendant with five different gemstones at the vertices, attached to a delicate rose-gold chain. She unfastened the hook and Jenkins wandered over to assist her with the clasp behind her neck. She ran her fingers across the shiny jewels with a smile.

"Cassiopeia," Cassandra whispered when it dawned on her. "Clever."

"I thought so," Jones quipped.

"This was you? Ezekiel, it's beautiful."

"How stolen is that?" Baird questioned suspiciously.

"I'm hurt, Colonel. I didn't steal it. I _borrowed_ it."

Jones chuckled at the horrified expression on Cassandra's face.

"I'm kidding. It's a custom piece. I've got the best jeweller this side of the Pacific."

"Of course you have a jeweller," muttered Baird.

"Uh yeah, who doesn't?" Jones retorted. "And everyone pitched in choosing the gems."

"That impromptu interrogation makes a helluva lot more sense now," Stone mumbled.

Jones pointed at Stone with a smirk.

"Cowboy picked amethyst, the citrine is from Jenkins, Flynn went with peridot, Baird: ruby, and I chose aquamarine to match the color of your eyes."

"This is the nicest gift anyone has ever given me," Cassandra gushed. "Thank you, Ezekiel."

She wrapped her arms around Jones and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Okay, my turn! Whatcha get me, Stone?"

The smile on Cassandra's face fell as she glared disapprovingly at Jones.

"Wait. You knew Jake had you? This was supposed to be a Secret Santa. Emphasis on secret."

"You're the math whiz here. We had a fifty-fifty chance of guessing right. Besides, _you_ kinda made it obvious you had Stone. You kept hovering around him all week."

"I was _not_ hovering," Cassandra pouted.

"Look, it's fine. I don't really like surprises anyway. And he just got me the game I wanted…"

"You peeked!"

"No, he told me."

Her glare was now fully aimed at Stone.

"You told him!" she huffed.

"Hey, he was going to find out anyway!"

Jones snatched his present from the table and shook it by his ear.

"If it'll make you happier, Cassandra. I'll act surprised," Jones dramatically cleared his throat. "I wonder what you got me, Oklahoma."

"Just open it already," grumbled Stone.

After tearing off the snowmen patterned gift wrap, Ezekiel expertly cut open the box with his penknife.

"Oh, I've always wanted…" Jones frowned as he held up his gift. "Glasses? Is this some kind of joke? What exactly am I supposed to do with these?"

"Uh, put 'em on, genius," Stone scoffed.

Rolling his eyes, Jones slipped on the stylish square frames as Stone tapped the left hinge. The thief immediately leapt almost a foot into the air.

"Woah!" Jones exclaimed.

The entire world through the lenses instantly transformed the Annex right in front of his eyes.

"This. Is. Freakin'. Awesome!"

Jones tackled Stone with a hug before taking off into the Library.

"Well played," Baird applauded.

"Thanks," replied Jake with a flourish.

"What was that?" asked Cassandra.

"It's a VR first person adventure game. I cashed in a favour a friend owed me from a while back."

"Why would Jones need more adventure?" Baird interjected. "We already adventure on a daily basis."

"Uh, because it's a video game?" supplied Stone, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

"Sorry. My bad."

"Die!" Jones' disembodied voice shouted. "All of you die!"

"Are you sure that was a good idea?" questioned Cassandra.

"I told Alec to put in a few glitches to keep things interesting. More time Jones is occupied with the game," Stone explained. "Less likely he'll be in actual trouble."

"Clever, Mr. Stone," Jenkins complimented.

Cassandra pushed the remaining gift towards Stone.

"Here," she said dejectedly. "It's not like it's a surprise anymore."

"Hey, this whole Secret Santa thing was a great idea, Cass. Besides, I honestly have no idea what you got me."

She visibly brightened at his encouraging words. Smiling, he untangled the gold ribbon before he lifted the lid to reveal a beautiful crushed felt hat.

"When I saw it, I thought of you," she explained.

Setting the fedora on his head, he tipped the brim towards Cassandra and winked.

"How do I look?"

"As rugged as Indy himself," she beamed.

"That's mighty kind of you, Miss," he drawled.

"There's one more thing in there."

Stone looked down and sure enough, sitting at the bottom of the box, there was a white card. An almost illegible scrawl in blue ink was written across it.

"You got me a phone number," he commented puzzledly.

"Not just any phone number, turn it over."

Frowning, Stone flipped the card around.

"Dr. D. O'Connor," he read aloud. "Wait, _the_ Dr. O'Connor? Ancient Nubia art historian, David O'Connor?! H-how?"

Giggling, Cassandra couldn't help but notice how adorable he looked completely star-struck.

"I bumped into David at a conference a while back and he may have mentioned a couple of archeological digs he's overseeing with some of his students next year near Cairo. And I may have mentioned I knew an expert…"

She was cut off mid-sentence when Stone flung his arms around her.

"Thank you," he murmured.

"You're very welcome."

"Oh jeez, get a room you two," Jones tutted, as he strolled in.

"Uh…" Stone stammered as Cassandra awkwardly extracted herself from his grasp. "H-how's the game so far?"

"Awesome. Although, it would be better if I could figure out how to get past the rage people."

Cassandra mouthed 'rage people?' to Stone but he simply shrugged his shoulders.

"Nice touch putting us all in as avatars," Jones added with a thumbs up.

"Wait, we're in the game?" Cassandra asked excitedly.

"Yep. Stone's Drake from _Uncharted_ , Baird's Wonder Woman…"

"Xena," corrected Stone.

"Who?" Jones frowned.

"Xena, Warrior Princess," Baird elaborated. "How do you not know… Y'know what? Never mind. Thanks, Jacob."

"Okay then," Jones continued, slightly baffled. "Oh, Cassie, you're the Mother of Dragons."

"You made me Khalessi?" Cassandra squealed.

"I just offered a couple suggestions," replied Stone.

"So what cantankerous character did you saddle me with," interjected Jenkins. "A gnome?"

"Actually, you're a knight," Jones answered.

Jenkins looked genuinely touched by the designation.

"Thank you."

"It seemed appropriate," Stone said with a grin.

A faint smile ghosted across Jenkins' lips before he quickly returned his attention to the book he had been pretending to read.

"So, who are you in the game, Ezekiel?" Cassandra asked.

"Oh, my avatar is the most awesome of all. I'm me."

Cassandra, Baird, and Jenkins all looked incredulously at Stone as Jones darted away.

"Still think this was a good idea, Cowboy?" questioned Baird.

"In hindsight, probably not," Stone admitted sheepishly as he looked back at Cassandra. "That necklace really does suit you."

"Thanks. Just out of curiosity, why did you pick amethyst?"

"Seven is your favorite color," he grinned.

She blushed and watched Stone curiously as he reached into his back pocket and produced two extra pairs of gaming glasses.

"Are those…"

"There was no way I was getting a kickass game made and not be able to play it."

"I don't know how good at this I'll be," she admitted nervously.

"Says the girl who solved the Minotaur's Labyrinth. This should be a walk in the park. Plus, I can't think of anyone else who could take Jones down a peg or two," he smirked. "So whaddaya say?"

Smiling, Cassandra took the glasses from Stone's outstretched hand.

"I say, let's go take out some rage people."

She looped her arm around his and the pair raced off to find Jones.

"Well, I guess that just leaves this."

Baird spun around and was surprised when she found Jenkins had magically materialized one final wrapped present.

"Not to sound ungrateful," Baird said, crossing her arms. "But what did I say about gifts?"

"I, unlike your team, followed your no-gift rule," Jenkins explained patiently. "I'm merely the messenger. Besides, they already broke _my_ no-gift rule with a rather hideous tea set."

Jenkins made a face, earning a chuckle from Baird before he departed the Annex. Once alone, Baird eyed the bright parcel suspiciously before opening it. Several gift certificates to the spa, a snow globe with a miniature statue of a man and woman frozen in an eternal kiss, and a note in Flynn's left hand-writing were tucked inside. A wide smile spread across her face.

 _Dearest Guardian,_

 _Don't be mad at the kids. I put them up to this. Be mad at me. I miss you. I love you. I'll see you soon._

 _Your Librarian._

 _P.S. Look up._

"Look up?" she mused aloud to herself.

As the question left her mouth, the backdoor lit up brighter than a Christmas tree. Flynn appeared in the threshold seconds later with a shiny red bow taped to his chest.

"Happy Birthday!" he greeted brightly.

"You came back alive," she replied.

"Indeed, I did."

Rushing over to him, Baird grabbed him by the lapels of his sports coat and kissed him with every fibre of her being.

"Hmmm," he murmured breathlessly, when they parted. "Maybe I should go away more often."

" _Don't_ even think about it," she warned.

"Apologies for my tardiness."

"No, your timing was perfect. Besides, I couldn't have wished for a better birthday gift."

"And this gift is so much more fun to unwrap," he quipped, wiggling his eyebrows.

She rolled her eyes as she wound her arms securely around his neck.

"Merry Christmas Eve… Eve."

Grinning, she pressed her lips to his.

"Merry Christmas Eve, Flynn."

* * *

Jenkins meticulously straightened one of the frames hanging on the wall of his workshop; a photograph of the entire team taken just outside the front doors of the Annex. It had been a gloriously sunny day and Miss Cillian had insisted they have a picnic since there were no pending end of the world cases to be dealt with. It was his favorite picture of all of them together, not that he would admit that to anyone. Smiling to himself, he began to hum _It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas_ as he settled into his armchair. He reached over and poured himself a perfect cup of tea. He took a long sip, staring at the delicate chinaware in his grasp. Upon further inspection, it wasn't as hideous as he had initially thought after all.

* * *

 _ **Fin for now. Happy Holidays!**_


End file.
